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More cases of paralyzing illness diagnosed in kids as officials probe cause﻿

Blog note:
And great earthquakes shall be in diverse places, and famines, and pestilences; and
fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. (Luke 21:11).
Jesus is giving a series of prophecies about what to look for as the age of
grace comes to a close. This verse from Luke is one of many such prophecies
from throughout the Bible. 2017 was the worst year in recorded history for the
intensity, frequency, severity, duration and occurrence of a large number of
severe natural disasters worldwide. Earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes,
typhoons, cyclones, torrential flooding, unprecedented wildfires in unusual
places, devastating droughts, excessive/scorching heat setting records
everywhere, record snowfalls in Europe and Russia. Snow in the Arabia. This
list can go on. Most studied eschatologists believe these ‘fearful sights’ and
massive natural disasters are all part of the ‘CONVERGENCE’ of signs that this
Biblical and prophetic age is closing. Most people who study prophecy are
familiar with the routine reference(s) made that these things will be
like a woman having labor pains that occur in greater
severity, frequency, size and duration prior to giving birth. End of note.

More cases of paralyzing illness diagnosed in kids as officials probe cause

Associated Press. 11/14/2018

More children have been
diagnosed with a mysterious paralyzing illness in recent weeks, and U.S. health
officials said Tuesday that they still aren’t sure what’s causing it. This
year’s count could surpass the tallies seen in similar outbreaks in 2014 and
2016, officials said. Fortunately, the disease remains rare: This year, there have been 90
cases spread among 27 states, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
said.

It’s not
clear what’s causing some children to lose the ability to move their face,
neck, back, arms or legs. The symptoms tend to occur about a week after the
children had a fever and respiratory illness. Health officials call the
condition acute flaccid myelitis. No one has died from it this year,
but CDC officials say at least half the patients do not recover from the
paralysis and some have serious complications.

Polio and
West Nile virus have been ruled out. Doctors have suspected the cause might be
some kind of enterovirus, which in most people causes cold symptoms. But CDC
officials say that’s not clear. The first mysterious wave of paralysis cases
in 2014 coincided with a wider spike in illnesses connected to an
enterovirus called EV-D68, CDC officials said. But there was no such spike
during the waves in 2016 or this year.

There’s also
a lack of clinical evidence: CDC officials have checked the spinal fluid of
about three-quarters of the 90 patients, and found EV-68 in only one. Another
type of enterovirus called EV-A71 was found in only one other patient. But
there are questions about that, too. If a virus is the cause, it’s possible the
test is not good enough, or the germ left the spinal fluid by the time the
tests were taken, said the CDC’s Dr. Nancy Messonnier. It’s also possible the
culprit is hiding elsewhere in the body.

Or perhaps the
paralyzing illnesses are caused by some new germ for which no lab test has been
developed. Or maybe there’s some predisposing factor in some patients that
cause their immune systems to react so severely to a germ or other trigger that
the immune response causes paralysis, CDC officials said.

Parents and
even some scientists have criticized the agency for not solving the riddle.

“I
understand why parents are frustrated. I’m frustrated. I want answers
too,” said Messonnier, who is overseeing the agency’s outbreak investigation.
CDC officials have pledged to do more to notify doctors to look for possible
cases and to more thoroughly review cases from years past for further clues. About
120 cases were confirmed in 2014, the first time such a wave occurred. Another
149 were reported in 2016. In 2015 and 2017, the counts were far lower, and
it’s not clear why.

The illnesses have
spiked in September each year there’s been a wave and tailed off significantly
by November. But it can take weeks to determine which cases should be counted
in the outbreak. More than 160 cases are still being investigated, and some of
those may join the count, CDC officials said.